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World-class oyster shucker is festival grand marshal
by Larry S. Chowning World Oyster Shucking Cham-
Middlesex County oyster
shucker Deborah Pratt has been
named grand marshal of the
54th annual Urbanna Oyster
Festival.
Pratt has represented the
United States four times in the
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She grew up in Middlesex
and first learned to shuck oysters
by watching her sister, Clementine
Macon, another master
oyster shucker. Since then, Pratt
has represented the State of Vir-
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8 • Southside Sentinel • Urbanna, Va. • Nov. 3, 2011
ginia and the Urbanna Oyster
Festival numerous times in the
United States championships at
St. Mary’s, Md.
Pratt is one of only two U.S.
shuckers to ever place in the top
three in the international competition,
which she did in 1994
and 1997, both times in Galway,
Ireland. The only other Virginian
to place in the international
competition was Middlesex’s
Sara Hammond who finished
third in 1984.
Urbanna Oyster Festival
Foundation member Charles
Bristow said Pratt has represented
Virginia and the United
States “with style and class” at
the international oyster shucking
contests and various other competitions
across the country.
“Deborah has been selected
grand marshal because of what
she has meant to the Urbanna
Oyster Festival,” said Bristow.
“She has been a great ambassador
for the festival and Urbanna.
We just felt that she deserved
the honor.”
Pratt also was named honorary
captain of the festival in
1995.
Pratt is an annual competitor
at the Virginia Oyster Shucking
Championship at the Urbanna
Oyster Festival—a competition
she has won numerous times.
She normally “steals the show”
Honorary . . .
(Continued from page 7)
a 4.0 GPA, is president of her
class, and editor-in-chief of
the Middlesex High yearbook.
Harrow, a former teacher,
is the maintenance director of
the Middlesex Public Schools
and also serves as golf coach
and assistant varsity baseball
coach. He is a member
of the Lower Middlesex Volunteer
Fire Department of
Deltaville.
He is the son of Garland and
Diane Harrow of Deltaville.
He and his wife, Jennifer, have
two children, Courtney and
Andrew, and live in Hartfield.
by taking the microphone and
interacting with the audience.
She will compete again this
year on Saturday, November 5,
at 11 a.m. behind the Urbanna
Firehouse.
“I want to thank the Oyster
Festival Foundation for honoring
me by naming me grand
marshal, “ said Pratt. “I love to
shuck oysters and I love to compete.”
Pratt is a professional shucker
who shucks oysters during the
oyster season at Walton’s Seafood
in Urbanna. She has been
featured in national and regional
publications such as Southern
Living, and a photo of her riding
an oyster shell is being used by
the State of Virginia to promote
tourism.
Pratt lives in Jamaica and has
three children and three grandchildren.
Deborah Pratt